


Apologize

by glitterpop



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Angst, Gen, canon character death, hiro is just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 08:23:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2644943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterpop/pseuds/glitterpop
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Tadashi had been conscious after the explosion?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apologize

**Author's Note:**

> I've seen this movie five times and I'm a wreck, just a wreck. I had to write this. I still cry over Tadashi. He didn't deserve it. I hope you guys like this.

The walls were dancing. They twisted and waved and flickered, and they pulsed with the beating of his head. He supposed that they were dancing to the silent beat of the flickering shadows, racing away from the light. He wanted to run from the light too; it _hurt,_ but maybe it wasn’t the light that hurt, maybe it was just him that hurt.

He had a distant feeling he should be frightened, but he wasn’t quite sure why.

Realization came slowly to him. It wasn’t that the walls were dancing, but that the waves of heat were rising, distorting his vision. Heat from… heat from what? He was lying on the floor, and he could feel himself twitching but couldn’t do anything to stop it. It was so hot. It was hot because the heat… the heat from…

The fire.

That’s right, the fire. The building had been on fire, he remembered, and he had gone in because… because someone had been in the building. Who had been in the building? Wouldn’t they have run out? They hadn’t though, and he had wanted to protect them. Him. Professor, he remembered, it was his professor still in the building. Had he been able to help? He wasn’t sure if he could help them now. Maybe best just to stay here, maybe the professor was coming for him now…

_“Tadashi!”_

He heard a voice call out, distantly, and he wanted to turn towards it but couldn’t find it in him to move. He knew that voice, he knew it down to his bones, but he couldn’t… Name on the tip of his tongue, like a warm body close behind him, like muffled crying as kids. Memories he could taste but couldn’t name, but he knew, he _knew…_

 _Hiro,_ he thought, and felt himself come back from the fog with a jolt.

The building had exploded, he remembered, and Hiro had just called his name. Was he okay? They’d been so close to the building when Tadashi had run in blindly to save Callaghan, had Hiro gotten away in time? What if he had been caught by the explosion? What if he was hurt? Baymax wasn’t close enough to treat Hiro, what would Tadashi do if his little brother was hurt?

What if Hiro had run into the building after Tadashi? The thought made Tadashi want to throw up.

“Hiro,” he called out silently, the heat of flames stealing his voice. If he could get to Hiro, it’d be okay. They could get away from the building, and Tadashi could look at whatever hurt Hiro had gotten and make it go away. They’d find Baymax and fix Hiro up, just like Tadashi had built him for. They could put this behind them and move on, and they could go to school together, and he’d always get to see Hiro smile. He just had to get to him.

Except when he tried to move, agony ripped through his body.

Like a safety latch being released, Tadashi suddenly felt all of the pain he must have been blocking from his mind. The entire right side of his body felt useless and tender, the left side barely any better, and he finally realized how badly he must have been hurt in the explosion. There was no way he could move, no way he could—

 _“Tadashi!”_ Hiro cried out again, sounding desperate and wrecked and very far away.

The thought of trying to move again made Tadashi want to weep, if he had any tears left not taken by the flames, but Hiro needed him. Hiro needed him and that was all that mattered.

Using his left arm, he forced himself into a sitting position. He tried to scream at the pain he felt tearing through him, but he still had no voice. Or maybe he just couldn’t hear. It didn’t matter though. If he had gotten himself up this far, he could keep going. He could force himself to stand, he could force himself to walk. He could find Hiro, and that he would never have to force himself to do.

He started to try to stand, and there was a tearing sound from above him. Like the world falling away at the seams. With an effort he didn’t want to spend, he craned his neck and looked up.

He wouldn’t find Hiro, he realized with a crushing sense of grief. He wouldn’t find Hiro, and they wouldn’t go to school together. He’d never see Hiro smile again. No more pulling his little brother out of trouble, no more teasing him or rough-housing, no more late night talks. No more curling into the same bed after nightmares. He’s leaving his best friend behind.

As he stared at the support beam falling down on top of him, he tried to conjure up the image of Hiro smiling and thanking him for all his support, but all he could see was the look of desperate plea on his little brother’s face as he silently begged him not to run into the fire. He realized that the last image Hiro would have was of Tadashi running to his death. How could he do this?

 _Please,_ he prayed silently, _please let Hiro be safe._ Hiro, his best friend, his pride and joy, his precious little brother.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and nothing more.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a Tumblr [here](http://www.glitterpukesoul.tumblr.com) where I'm crying over Tadashi and I post some other fandom stuff too


End file.
